And then Effingham freshman Anna Sophia Keller opened the door, and Hildreth slammed it shut behind her, winning the 3,200-meter title in crazy fashion. After finishing a distant second to Keller in the state cross-country meet — by a 45-second margin — Hildreth led most of the way during the 3,200 run state final for Class 1A on Saturday.

But Keller was on her heels from the onset, and she took control with a burst with about 300 meters to go. Hildreth tried to find a quick answer, realized she could not, and started to believe her state gold medal was not to be.

And then Keller wobbled with about 100 meters to go until the finish line, and Hildreth pounced.

“I got pretty discouraged when she passed me. I just couldn’t find it right then,” Hildreth said. “But then I could see it; then I saw her legs, her legs were starting to give out. I knew that was my chance.”

Keller regained her composure with about 90 meters left, but it didn’t last. With Hildreth closing fast, she toppled to the ground at the 20-meter mark, and Hildreth stormed past her and across the finish line, hardly knowing what had just transpired, but knowing she had the win.

“I’m not used to close finishes, and in cross country, she was like way out there,” said Hildreth, who won with in 10 minutes, 19.61 seconds, her best time ever, and the best time in the state at any level this year. “I saw her kind of losing it, and that definitely pushed me a little harder to get up there. And when she went down, I just went right around. I kind of couldn’t believe it.”

Neither could the packed crowd at O’Brien Stadium, which hushed to silence for a brief moment before erupting with gasps and applause as it all went down.

“That’s never happened to me before. I didn’t know what to do,” Keller said 10 minutes after finishing second in 10:22.16. “I was trying to use that last 100 to really kick it in, but I felt it give. I tried to pull back, but it was too late.”

And while Keller (5:01.02) stayed strong in holding off Hildreth (5:01.68) for the 1,600 title later in the afternoon, the race of the day was the first open race of the day — the two-mile battle that left them both on the blue track gasping for air.

Byron’s Paige Holloway, the only freshman in the 1A high jump finals, finished in a tie for eighth with a make at 4 feet, 10 inches, and the Tigers wound up in ninth in the 400 relay, clocking in at 50.92 after running a 50.64 on Friday.

Oregon’s Cydney Long came the closest to gathering another 1A title for the local contingent, fading late and taking second in the 110 high hurdles (15.15) before medaling with a seventh-place time of 47.15 in the 300 hurdles.

“I knew I was going to have to come up with my strongest race ever, and I almost did — it just wasn’t quite enough,” said Long, who tied her second best 110 hurdle time, behind her 14.98 at sectionals. “And then for being my first year doing the 300s, I was pretty happy. Hey, I placed, right?”

Her Hawks’ teammate Shannon Cullen placed — twice — although she was unable to better her prelim outbursts in both the throwing events. She took sixth in the shot put with a 38-8½, and seventh in the discus (119-4).

Christian Life’s Erin Farley also took seventh in the long jump (17-4½), equaling Lutheran’s Claire Mesa, who placed seventh in the 800 run (2:20.26). The top nine finishers all received medals.